Stargazing
by Aviv b
Summary: Sometimes you have to look to the heavens to find your place on Earth.


Summary: **Sometimes you have to look to the heavens to find your place on Earth. **Originally written for a schmoop bingo challenge on LJ. The prompt was **Long Walk on the Beach**

A/N: There is reference to the story 'Life is a Beach (except when its not)' but you don't have to have read this to follow the story.

A/N2: There are six references to sci-fi/espionage movies. See how many you can identify. (The answers are at the bottom of the story).

**As always comments make me do a happy dance!**

* * *

Jack watched with satisfaction as his team laughed and joked while eating lunch around the conference room table. He'd been back from his visit with the Doctor for almost a year, and while it had been rough going for a while after his return, they now all seemed to be getting along quite and Ianto had returned to having amazing sex and something else, something deeper was beginning to develop between them.

'_Oh yeah_,' Jack thought, _'there's a whole lot more to Ianto than even I ever thought.'_

Ianto was not only extremely intelligent, he had an uncanny ability to pick up on little bits of information that proved invaluable in analyzing items and creatures that came through the rift. It wouldn't have surprised Jack if Ianto hadn't retained most of the information he catalogued inside his considerable mind, making the need for his elaborate search programs unnecessary.

But sometimes Ianto's insatiable intelligence and curiosity would create a little friction in their otherwise comfortable existence. Earlier in the week, they had been able to actually have a whole evening together without interruption. They'd gone out to a new Japanese restaurant that had recently opened in Whitchurch. The food was good, the Saki creating a warm feeling in both men which could lead to only one of two conclusions, a raucous session in the bedroom or Ianto asking questions that Jack didn't want to answer.

"So," Ianto said, "were you popular as a teen?" Slightly tipsy, Ianto had just concluded a story about how the older girl he worshiped when he was twelve (she was fifteen) wouldn't even speak to him and how he had been devastated, but in some ways thrilled, when she ran off two years later with a man from the traveling carnival who was much older, twenty-two in fact.

It was a perfectly reasonable question, but one that brought back memories that Jack did not want to dwell on.

"Not really."

"Oh come on, Jack Harkness, intergalactic playboy, wasn't making it with every girl, boy and alien by the time you were twelve?"

Jack sighed. Ianto wasn't going to let this go until he got some type of answer. And really, Jack couldn't blame him. After all, Jack spoke about his sexcapades in the Time Agency readily enough. His experiences on Boeshane, however, were less than noteworthy.

"No, I got kind of a slow start. Went snogging with an older girl and well, I couldn't, uh...complete the act which was very embarrassing. And then she told all her friends, which didn't do a lot to enhance my desirability."

Ianto snorted. He was about to make a sarcastic remark when he saw a peculiar expression on Jack's face. Not embarrassment or amusement but a searing pain that was there and then gone.

"Well her loss then. Let's go home and you can complete the act with me. Actually I've got several acts in mind," Ianto teased, pushing any more questions about Jack's childhood back down. A very relieved Jack paid the bill and they headed for home.

As they entered Ianto's flat, Jack was startled when Ianto pushed him up against the entryway wall and ground his groin against Jack's. "Yeah, I want you to fuck me until I don't know my name," Ianto said nipping at Jack's neck.

Jack wasn't quite sure how they got there, but in a few minutes they were naked on the bed and he was straddling his lover, his cock buried completely inside him.

"Want me to fuck you hard, do you," Jack teased.

"Yeah, I want to see stars."

'_Oh you will_,' Jack thought. He pushed Ianto's legs onto his shoulders, stuffed a few pillows under Ianto and gripped the headboard for leverage. He began to slam into Ianto at a furious pace. Ianto was writhing and moaning, his engorged cock bobbing untouched between them. Ianto went to stroke himself, but Jack batted his hand away. "You don't touch yourself, Ianto until I say so." Ianto nodded.

As Jack continued his relentless rhythm, his thoughts drifted back to their conversation earlier this evening. '_Yeah that first time was not what I hoped for. I was such an idiot. Couldn't even get the job done. And then when she told everyone…'_

Jack's thoughts were interrupted by a throat clearing noise from Ianto. "Duw Jack, I think we're having a little problem here tonight." Ianto tried to sound casual, but Jack sensed concern and disappointment. Then he realized that he had lost his erection.

"Ianto, sorry, I was just thinking…"

"Aren't you the one always telling me not to think? What's up with you, or shall I say not up with you tonight?," Ianto snarked.

For reasons that even Jack couldn't explain he suddenly felt irritated at Ianto. The rational part of Jack's brain knew that Ianto was just trying to make an embarrassing situation a little easier, but the primal part of him felt like he was fourteen, being taunted by Heliowan behind the dunes.

"Guess I'm not in the mood," Jack said angrily as he got out of bed.

Ianto lay still and listened to Jack use the bathroom, rustle around a bit as he got dressed and slam the door on his way out. Ianto had no idea what had happened. They had had a nice dinner, and were well on the way to bliss and then Jack got moody and distracted and then angry.

'_Fine_,' Ianto thought,_ 'I won't ask him about his childhood any more. But I'm not sharing my memories with him either.'_

The next day at the Hub the tension between Ianto and Jack was palatable. Everyone ignored it as Ianto headed down to the archives for the day and Jack stayed in his office completing reports. The following day it was much the same. Ianto dispensed the coffee wordlessly, stayed in the archive and spoke to no one. Jack on the other hand was being annoyingly cheerful and chatty. He interrupted the others numerous times with questions and suggestions until they thought they would lose their tempers. It was almost as if Jack needed to stay constantly connected to them to reassure himself of their friendship or his existence, or who knew what all.

By the third day, Owen couldn't stand it. As Ianto brought around the afternoon coffees, Owen yelled up from the medical bay. "Oi, Teaboy, did you and Jack have a lover's tiff?"

Ianto just shrugged.

"What, dinner didn't go so well? Jack run off with another bloke?"

Ianto glared at Owen. "Mind your own business Owen."

"Aw is Teaboy in a bad mood?"

"Shut the fuck up Owen," Ianto growled.

"What did you say to me you wanker?"

Ianto charged down to the medical bay only find his path blocked by Tosh and Gwen.

"Ianto calm down," Tosh said as she and Gwen struggled to hold him back.

"Let the little prick come down here," Owen taunted, "see if he'll actually have the balls to take a swing at me."

"I shot you once you rat-faced bastard, don't push your luck."

Gwen had been on the police force long enough to know that these escalating taunts usually ended in blood and tears or worse.

"Both of you stop it right now! You," she said turning to Owen, "shut your mouth and do your work. And you," she said looking at Ianto, "take a walk outside until you calm down."

Both men were going to argue with her when they saw that she wasn't joking and had a can of weevil spray in her hands.

Ianto threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine, I'll take a walk. Maybe I'll just take a stroll for the rest of the day," he said as he trotted up the stairs to the tourist office.

Owen looked at Gwen apologetically. "Oi, what's got his knickers in a twist. I always tease him like that."

"Owen's right," Tosh added. "Something is really off with both of them these last few days. I'm going to talk to Jack."

She went over to his office, but it was empty. Puzzled she looked around and saw that the entrance to Jack's bunker was open. Peering down, she saw that Jack was laying on his small bed staring off into space.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but are you alright?" she asked.

Jack looked at her a bit dazed. Whatever he had been thinking about had taken his attention completely away from the present. "Yeah, I'm Ok, just a little unfocused that's all." He got up from the bed and climbed up the stairs.

"I'm not usually one to ask, but what's going on with you and Ianto?"

"Wha…what do you mean?"

"Well you've been laying down there totally unaware that Ianto and Owen just had the most spectacular row. You had to have been able to hear it. But you were totally tuned out."

"We had a little tiff that's all," he said as he climbed up the ladder and went back into the main area of the Hub. "Everyone Ok here?" Owen looked up from his computer and nodded. Gwen did the same. "So Ianto's in the archives then?"

"Uh no," Gwen said a little embarrassed. "I told him to take a walk." Jack looked at her in disbelief. "Jack, it was coming close to blows. Owen was being a prat as usual, but Ianto's reaction was all out of proportion."

"Where did he go? Did he say?"

Tosh looked up from her computer. "Looks like he's up on the plaz just looking out at the water." Jack looked like he wasn't sure what he should do. "The rift is going to be quiet until tomorrow afternoon. Why don't the two of you go somewhere and clear the air?"

"I doubt he wants to talk to me."

"I'm with Tosh. This is getting very disruptive to our work," Gwen pointed out. "If we have a major rift event we need the two of you focused and ready. Distraction is going to get one of us hurt."

Jack had to agree. Most accidents were caused by inexperience or inattentiveness. And some of the creatures coming through the rift would take full advantage of their mistakes.

"Owen and I will be on rift watch tonight, so go and fix this now before something disastrous happens," Tosh said. Owen looked like he was going to protest until he saw the glares from Gwen and Tosh.

"Yeah, go on Captain, we'll call if anything major happens."

Jack took a few moments to take some items to the SUV that they might need and then went out on the plaza. If Ianto was aware of Jack's presence he gave no indication. "Weevil alert," Jack told him. "Let's get going."

Wordlessly Ianto followed Jack into the SUV. As they began to drive out of the city, Ianto looked at Jack. "And where exactly are these weevils located."

"Out past Swansea."

Ianto snorted. They drove for almost an hour until they pulled up to a beach near Pembrokeshire. Ianto got out and looked around. "Oi, this is the beach where we found the space ants."

"Yep."

"So no weevils then."

"Nope."

Ianto leaned against the SUV, crossing his arms defensively. "What the hell are we doing here Jack?"

"We're going to take a walk and have a chat. And don't role your eyes at me."

"Why here?"

Jack shrugged. "I think of this beach as the place where we started to get our relationship back on track after…well you know."

They began to walk down to the beach path Ianto hating the fact that his suit was getting dirty and sand was getting in his shoes.

"What's the matter?" Jack said noticing the look on Ianto's face.

"Sand in my shoes."

"Give me your shoes and wait here." When Ianto began to protest, Jack smiled saying, "That's an order Mr. Jones."

Ianto slipped his shoes off and handed them to Jack. Jack jogged back up the beach reappearing some minutes later with a pair of trainers that Ianto kept at the Hub. Ianto wordlessly put them on.

They walked down the beach path in silence for about forty minutes. Ianto decided he'd be damned if he was the first one to speak.

"So," Jack said, "about the other night." Ianto looked at him momentarily and then turned his attention back to the path. "About the other night, I guess I got a bit distracted."

"You think."

"I know. You had told that story about your unrequited love for the girl who ran off with the carnival man and then I mentioned the girl from Boeshane. Uh…that whole incident was a bit more painful than I first recalled. It's been a long time Ianto since it happened. Over a hundreds years, so I really didn't remember the details. Then when we were together in bed, I began to recall them, and they upset me…I'd forgotten how humiliating it was."

He reached over and took Ianto's hand. "Yeah, I'm sorry, not so much for getting distracted but taking my bad memories out on you." There were a million questions Ianto wanted to ask but he held them back.

"So here's the whole pathetic story. The girl's name was Heliowan. She was very popular and eighteen years old. I was fourteen I think. Boeshane had a pretty casual attitude about sex, as long as both parties had gone through puberty and were of relatively similar ages and it was consensual no one really cared. So there wasn't really anything wrong with her seducing me. Except, I was not exactly everyone's idea of a heartthrob. I wasn't nearly as tall as I am now, but skinny, gawky, and socially awkward. Bad teeth and bad skin, hard to believe seeing what a masterpiece I am now."

Ianto couldn't resist smiling. Jack Harkness as a young geeky kid was not something he had ever envisioned.

"She'd heard I had a big cock and wanted to see if it was true. Don't laugh, that part of me was fully grown. I'd done a little groping with a few girls before, and wanked off with my best friend Danois, but that was about it. So there I am touching her breasts behind the dunes and then she's hitching up her skirt and has her legs spread and I'm trying to put myself inside her. Finally got in and after two thrusts I came. She was so angry; pushed me off and berated me for being a lousy fuck. And by the next day she'd told everyone what happened. The whole colony knew. 'Limp Dick' was my nickname for the next two years. Those were not the best years of my life. Remembering that made me mad all over again."

Ianto squeezed Jack's hand. "I didn't mean to tease you…"

"No, I know," Jack interrupted. "You didn't say anything to me that you haven't said before, and I know you were just being snarky. But your words reminded me of her, and shit Ianto, it hurt then, it really hurt."

As they headed back toward the beach Ianto's head was filled with questions. '_I'm not going to pry,' _he thought doing his best to suppress his thoughts.

"Go on, I know you want to ask me some things."

"I promised myself I wasn't going to push you for any details about your past."

"No really, I've wheedled a lot of your past out of you, it's only fair."

"Ok…I find it hard to believe that something like that would make you a pariah for over two years. Was there something else?"

"Mr. Jones, has anyone told you that in addition to being a most handsome piece of ass you are an extremely perceptive man?"

"Yeah, I think my older lover may have mentioned it."

Jack mouthed the word 'old' shaking his head. "Boeshane was a colony. A real backwater, nothing of a place. As a kid I dreamed of getting off that planet of sand and having a more exciting life. I didn't want to be a farmer, a pioneer, living in deprivation, scratching out a living in a place where nothing was meant to grow and nothing could really flourish, least of all people."

"And we were constantly under attack from more advanced species. They would burn the crops, kill us for sport or take us captive as slaves; it was a horrible existence. After one raid when I was ten, my father was killed and my brother was taken. My mother went to pieces after that. She blamed me for Grey getting taken. I was supposed to hold on to him, but in the panic and confusion, I must have let go of his hand. She became addicted to the Smoke; sat all day with her water pipe oblivious to everything. The others shunned my mother and by extension me. So yeah, things weren't great before Heliowan."

"We were so removed from the Third Galactic Federation that we couldn't even get transmissions from off-world. We'd wait for supply trips to bring us news of events generally months if not years old. We had movies, on these tiny little chips. They'd show them once a week at the meeting house. They were really the only entertainment we had."

Jack sighed. "Know what my favorite movie was? _If there was a bright center to the universe, we were on the planet that it's furthest from_."

"Duw, you wanted to be Luke Skywalker!"

It was Jack's turn to snort. "Han Solo actually."

Ianto stopped and faced Jack and struck an arrogant pose_. "You make it so difficult sometimes."_

Jack squinted at Ianto. What was he…oh yeah. _"I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though. Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I'm all right."_

"_Occasionally, maybe... when you aren't acting like a scoundrel." _Ianto replied.

"Scoundrel? Scoundrel? I like the sound of that. You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."

"_I happen to like nice men."_ said winking at Ianto.

"I'm a nice man," Jack

"_No, you're not. You're..."_ Ianto's last line was cut off as Jack kissed him just like Han Solo kissed Princess Leia in the movie.

"So did you want to be Princess Leia when you were growing up?" Jack teased.

"I wanted to be James Bond."

"_Why did you break up the encounter with my pet python?"_

"Duw, not Roger Moore."

"Oh you don't know the line," Jack teased.

"Do too. _I discovered it had a crush on me. _Even the jokes sucked in his movies."

"Not as much as Dr. Goodhead."

"I never realized that you wrote the jokes for Roger Moore."

"Well he asked me, but…"

"Jack, if that's true, that's one story I don't want to hear."

They were almost back to the beach when Jack began to laugh. "Sean Connery, your favorite has got to be _Bond, James Bond_," Jack said in a not too shabby Scottish brogue.

"You sound almost if you were a native Scotsman," Ianto said as Jack preened a little. "_Shaken not stirred, _if you please_, _Mr. Harkness."

Jack closed his eyes in concentration. "Got it. _I think my mouth is too big_," Jack said in a terrible Russian accent.

"_I think it's a very lovely mouth. It's just the right size – for me anyway," _Ianto said pulling Jack toward him for another kiss.

When they got back to the beach it was almost dark. Jack and Ianto went back to the SUV but to Ianto's surprise Jack started getting more stuff out. "Here, go put this blanket down and take the canvas bag. I'll be along in a moment." Ianto was puzzled but did as he was asked.

Ianto spread the blanket in front of a small dune and was looking in the bag but it was hard to see in the darkness. Jack arrived with a large duffel, his greatcoat and a leather bomber jacket. "Here, put this on," he said handing Ianto the jacket. He opened the duffle and pulled out an oil lantern that gave off a dim glow when lit. "A bit out of date, but perfect for what we're going to be doing."

There was just enough light to see what was left in the canvas bag and duffle. Jack pulled a small but powerful telescope out of the canvas bag and quickly assembled it. Ianto took a paper bag out of the duffle which had leftovers from lunch. "How romantic. Left over bologna sandwiches and crisps. Oh and ginger ale. Jack you shouldn't have."

"Just don't let it go to your head." As they waited for the stars to come out, Jack finished his story. "So my family was destroyed when I was ten. From ten to fourteen I was an outcast. From fourteen to sixteen I'm a limp dicked outcast. Small wonder that I stowed away on the first supply ship that came to Boeshane after I was sixteen. At that point, I was considered an adult under intergalactic law, so they wouldn't return me to Boeshane. I might end up in jail, but even that would have been better than staying on that planet. I never considered the dangers involved, just that I had to get away."

"I was lucky really. I wasn't found on the freighter and I left at the first major planet we stopped at. Fortunately for me, it was the regional headquarters for the Time Agency. First night on the planet I got a little drunk and picked up some guy. His name was John Hart. He was a few years older and already a junior agent at the Agency. He taught me everything I know about running a con, catching a criminal and well, sex, drugs and rock and roll. But that's a story for another night."

Ianto gave Jack a wistful smile. "We really do have a lot in common. I lived on an estate in Newport until I was 18. I wasn't popular either. Too interested in academics which was not considered particularly appropriate for a poor boy. Got beat up sometimes by the other kids for getting good grades. I probably would have ended up like them, in jail, or working odd jobs, or living on the dole if my Welsh literature teacher hadn't decided that I had promise. My grades were good but I wouldn't have known the first thing about applying for college. All I knew is that we hadn't any money and my father didn't think college was important. She helped with interviews and called her friends about scholarships and suddenly I found myself with a full scholarship to London University. I had never been out of Wales in my whole life and there I was waving goodbye to my parents and my sister on the train to London."

"As for Torchwood; I took the entrance exams on a dare. Guess my scores on the memory tests were on the high end. So at twenty-two, Ianto Jones, kid from an estate was a junior archivist for Torchwood."

They finished the leftovers, extinguished the lantern, and watched as the stars and planets started to become visible. Jack fiddled with the telescope and then motioned Ianto to take a look.

"Look over toward the west. You see the moon just above the horizon? Right above it is Mercury. You can only see it for an hour or two after sunset at this time of year. Later we'll be able to see Mars, Venus and Saturn clustered together higher and more to the west."

They sat and watched the stars brighten as true darkness finally arrived. The Milky Way became visible and Ianto sighed at the beauty of it. "Can we see your planet?"

Jack chuckled. "No but we can see its galaxy." Jack adjusted the telescope again. "Find the big dipper. Go to the end of the tail and just below is a fuzzy patch. That's the Whirlpool Galaxy. Can you focus in on that?"

"Duw it looks like a spiral."

"You got it. It's a spiral galaxy about fifteen million light years away."

Ianto looked at him in disbelief. "Could you ever go home from here?"

"Not easily without a Tardis. By the 51st Century man can travel faster than the speed of light, but it would still take several years to get there from here. Of course there are other species that have already mastered superluminal travel; I'm sure I could persuade a passing ship to give me a ride."

They lay back on the blanket and stared at the sky some more. The stars seemed so close Ianto thought he could reach out and touch them.

"What's that?" Ianto asked as an object moved slowly across the sky.

"Most likely it's the International Space Station or it could be a military or commercial satellite though those generally can't be seen without a telescope." Jack propped himself up on one elbow and looked at Ianto stargazing. "So Ianto, you like seeing stars?"

"Hmm, yeah."

"Can I show you some other stars?" Jack said reaching out and touching Ianto's cheek.

It took a moment for Ianto to understand Jack's meaning.

"Are you trying to take advantage of me out here alone on the beach?"

"You are so clever Mr. Jones."

Jack leaned over and began to kiss Ianto gently. Ianto pulled Jack on top of him and deepened the kiss. Ianto wasn't surprised that there wasn't much foreplay that night. He knew that Jack needed to get his confidence back so he let Jack set the pace. Within minutes Jack had unbuttoned Ianto's jeans and released his cock form his pants. The cool air around his body made him shiver. Jack looked at Ianto and gave him a smile so wicked Ianto thought he might come right then.

"You know, I think my mouth really is just the right size," Jack teased as he stroked Ianto.

"Prove it."

Jack paused over Ianto's cock and then swallowed him in one smooth movement. As he worked Ianto with his mouth he felt himself getting excited as well. Ianto moaned as Jack pulled off him achingly slow. Jack quickly undressed Ianto from the waist down. Stripping himself, he stopped only to search his pockets until he found the all important lube. "Oh yeah, Ianto, you're going to see stars tonight, maybe whole galaxies flashing through your brain."

As soon as Ianto was ready Jack entered him and slowly pushed in. He pulled back and made slow shallow strokes that were driving Ianto a bit mad. "Tell me what you want Ianto," he teased.

"Make me see stars, Jack."

"Why should I?"

"'Cause you love fucking me as much as I love being fucked by you."

Much like the disastrous session of a few nights prior, Jack pushed Ianto legs up and began to fuck him with long powerful thrusts.

"Duw, Jack, harder, damn you harder." Jack was only too happy to comply. Even in the almost complete darkness Jack could see the sweat gleaming on Ianto's body and the look of bliss on is face.

"Open your eyes Ianto, look at the stars." Ianto did and the stars seemed alive as they twinkled in the night. He felt strange, a little dizzy almost like he had vertigo.

"You're flying Ianto, flying through space faster than the speed of light. You're feeling weightless as you leave earth's gravity." And as Jack continued to deepen his thrusts, Ianto really did feel weightless.

Jack changed the angle until he found…yeah, there it was. Ianto was laughing and crying and moaning. Jack felt his own orgasm approaching but held back. "Come for me Ianto, come for me now." Ianto's eyes closed and he yelled as his climax hit him. A few more thrusts and Jack was coming as well.

The two men lay together in post coital bliss catching their breaths. Ianto was still watching the stars dance around him.

"What are you thinking?" Jack asked.

"All those other worlds out there with all their different life forms. How many of them are having sex tonight?"

Jack barked out a laugh. "Oh, I imagine quite a few."

"Are they connecting with a mate, or is it random? Is it for pleasure or procreation or both? Is it an act of lust, or love or hate?"

"There are thousands of worlds with thousands of species Ianto. And many of them reproduce much like we do. Some species join for pleasure as well and some don't. And how it's done, and who does what to whom is as varied as the stars in the heavens. There are species that can change sex, species that have more than two sexes, and species that have multiple sexes within one individual at the same time.

Ianto sighed. "We really are pathetically primitive here in the 21st Century."

"Not really. There are species across the galaxy, species far more technologically advanced than 21st Century humans, who are so repressed they never acknowledge that sexual congress takes place. And there's even a planet with a bipedal life form, not that different in appearance from humans where sex is so highly restricted that it only takes place at certain times of the year with the permission of a high priest of their religious cult. It's observed by the entire community as a solemn ritual and if either participant makes a sound before, during, or after the act, they are executed."

"That sounds like fun."

"It's a big world out there, Ianto," Jack said looking at Ianto, "and we gotta be ready," he added finishing the Torchwood motto.

Ianto sat up and leaned over Jack. "Don't know about you, but I'm ready for another round of stargazing," Ianto said as he moved to cover Jack's body with his.

* * *

movie quotes:

Bright Center of the Universe - Star Wars  
Scoundrel - The Empire Strikes Back  
Pet Python - Moonraker  
Bond, James Bond - first in Dr. No, all subsequent films  
Shaken not stirred - Goldfinger movie (but earlier in the books)  
Mouth too big - From Russia With Love


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